Photo/Illutration Sample pages of the new Japanese passport featuring ukiyo-e painter Katsushika Hokusai’s “Gaifu kaisei” (South Wind at Clear Dawn), top, and “Kanagawa-oki nami-ura” (Under the Wave off Kanagawa), bottom, from his iconic series “Fugaku Sanjurokkei” (Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji). (Takashi Narazaki)

To promote Japanese culture and fight forgeries, works of famed ukiyo-e painter Katsushika Hokusai of the Edo Period (1603-1867) will grace the new Japanese passport.

Starting on Feb. 4, the Foreign Ministry will issue a newly designed passport to those who file for one from the day forward. 

It marks the first time that an artistic work has been used in a passport design since Japan first issued passports in 1866, the ministry said.

Works from Hokusai’s most iconic series, “Fugaku Sanjurokkei” (Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji), are featured on the pages.

For the 10-year passport, 24 paintings are included in the background, with each being a two-page spread. For the five-year passport, 16 paintings are displayed in the same manner.

Along with promoting Japanese culture in line with the 2020 Tokyo Games, depicting an ukiyo-e painting has also made the passport more difficult to replicate, which the ministry hopes to bolster forgery prevention.

The ministry has also improved the functions of built-in IC chips to strengthen security.

Passport offices and diplomatic establishments abroad will simultaneously start accepting applications for the new passport.

About 29.98 million effective passports were issued as of the end of 2018.

Japanese passports are considered “the world’s most powerful passport” because they allow citizens to visit the highest number of countries and regions without a visa.

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